


With a Little Help (miracles do happen)

by TimesBeingWhatTheyAre



Category: NCIS
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Pre-Slash, Season 17 Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:35:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26220508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TimesBeingWhatTheyAre/pseuds/TimesBeingWhatTheyAre
Summary: "How did you find them?" Gibbs asked, his blue eyes staring at Jack in astonishment.Jack smiled back, tilting her head towards her shoulder in a half shrug.“Guess miracles do happen sometimes,”S17E11
Relationships: Jethro Gibbs/Jacqueline "Jack" Sloane
Comments: 2
Kudos: 63





	With a Little Help (miracles do happen)

"How did you find them?" Gibbs asked, his blue eyes staring at Jack in astonishment as Micki and George greeted Phineas joyously. 

Jack smiled back, tilting her head towards her shoulder in a half shrug, keeping her gaze as steady as ever, no matter how much being the sole recipient of that look made her want to beam. 

“Guess miracles do happen sometimes,” she replied, hinting back at their earlier conversation, and looking up in surprise as Gibbs stood, leaving Phineas to his foster parents, and walking over to her.

“Gibbs…?” she asked as he came to a stop next to her. She wondered if she was going to get that aborted hug from earlier, but instead she got a half smile and an oddly vulnerable lilt to its edges. 

“Thanks,” he said simply, and she smiled, turning back to look at Phineas, safe and happy and not halfway to Cairo. It really had been a happy ending, and she was glad for it for the kid and also for Gibbs.

Jack glanced to her side, sharing her joy with the other agent, and did a double take as she realised that Gibbs was no longer there. 

“Gibbs?” she asked in surprise, flickering her gaze around the room as she recalled how silently the man could walk. Honestly, she was a trained agent and veteran and half the time she didn’t notice him coming.

He wasn’t in the room though, so she turned around, wondering if she would see the back of his head on the stairs back down to the main squadroom, but he was just completely gone from sight.

She glanced back again, seeing Phineas smiling happily, and walked out of the room, heading to the balcony and peering over the edge to see if Gibbs was downstairs after all, but it was just the team, Bishop and McGee doing their paperwork and Torres pretending to do his, without a leader in sight. 

She frowned, her lips pressing together in bemusement as she heard the lift sound, indicating it had arrived and- Jack hurried over to the lift, finding it empty, and rolling her eyes as she realised Gibbs had simply taken the lift down.

The question was; why?

It clearly wasn’t paperwork, and Jack recalled the strange fragility of his smile as they’d stood in the conference room, and remembered how he’d said that he would be okay once they found Phineas. It really had been a long day, and if anyone would know where Gibbs would go at the end of a long day, it would be DUcky.

She glanced down again at the usual going-ons of the team, and headed for the lift, pressing the button for Ducky’s floor, wishing that the lift would travel a little faster, and forcing herself to calm down before she stepped out and across to Ducky’s room.

“Ducky?” she asked, knocking lightly on the door and popping her head through as she spoke. 

Ducky looked up from his desk in surprise, beaming at her. 

“Ah, Jack, what a pleasant surprise! To what do I owe the honour? I don’t often get visitors down here, you know,” he greeted, standing up and walking over to her.

Jack smiled, a little distractedly, and asked “Have you seen Gibbs? He was with me a minute ago and just- vanished,”

Ducky’s eyebrows rose a little as he chuckled. “Well, you can’t expect Jethro to stick around. Why, once I recall that-”

“No, we were with Phineas and then he vanished. I can’t help but think-”

“What is it, my dear?” Ducky pressed, and Jack sighed.

“It’s just- it’s been a long day. I know he’s not okay, but I thought we were making progress on the whole ‘talking about feelings’ thing, you know,” she smiled a little, waving her hands in the air as she spoke, but the smile faded pretty quickly.

“Ah, I see.” Ducky nodded, his hair flopping forwards a little into his face as he glanced around the empty room. “Well then, he always used to head to autopsy, but I imagine he doesn’t do that all that often with Jimmy there… so don’t tell Jethro I said this, but if you think he might be upset...he tends to head towards the empty interrogation rooms. Not many people round there,” he whispered, clasping her hand in his.

“Thank you, Ducky. I’ll go look there next,” Jack smiled gratefully, her short blonde hair flowing forwards as she bent to press a kiss to her friend’s cheek, and then quickly walked out the room, in the direction of interrogation. 

Behind her, Ducky chuckled again, and turned to survey the boxes of notes that still coated the floor. He sighed, and wondered if he should just leave it for the morning.

Meanwhile, Jack barely ran into anyone on her trip across the building to interrogation. She was hoping not to run into the team, because Gibbs would not appreciate her sharing her concerns about him to anyone else, but it was also a relief not to have to worry about privacy too much, especially as she was pretty much running down some of the corridors.

It seemed a little stupid if said out loud, but Jack just had a feeling that she was needed.

She turned the corner to the interrogation rooms with a slowing stride, biting her lip as she opened the first door. 

“Gibbs?” she asked, but the room was empty. There weren’t all that many interrogation rooms, but Jack hedged her bets and headed straight to the last one. 

She pulled open the door quietly, flooding light into the dark room, and felt her expression melt into sympathetic concern as she saw Gibbs, sat in the small chair in the corner of the room, his head held in his hands.

“Hey,” Jack said softly, stepping into the room and letting the door swing shut behind her. “You vanished on me. I was worried,”

There was no response, but then again, she hadn’t really been expecting one.

“Is everything okay? Can I ask you my questions now?” Jack shrugged with a hopeful smile, stepping closer still, until she was close enough to hear Gibbs’ shuddering breaths, loud in the small space.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. Phineas is fine, it’s all going to be okay,” she whispered, stepping the final step closer and kneeling down next to him, placing a gentle hand on his leg and the other one on his shoulder. She was concerned, but not surprised, to feel it shaking.

“You did it, Jethro. You did it,” Jack comforted lightly, allowing her thumb to stroke gently across his back, and turning to grab the only other chair in the room, pulling it next to the agent’s, and sitting down in it. She leaned forwards again, making sure to be close to him, and sighed.

“Come here, you,” she said, pressing her body against his soft jumper, and pulling him towards her with a strong movement. For a moment he resisted, but then Jack felt him give up on not accepting the comfort and instead rest against her, face buried in her chest as he continued to shake. Warm moisture began to drip against her skin, and she pulled even tighter, shushing him gently, and resting her cheek on the top of his head.

“I know, it was scary. There was a lot of adrenaline, and a lot of fear, but you got him back safe and sound. That kid didn’t have a scratch on him, thanks to what you taught him. You did good,” she continued, and for the first time, Jethro spoke back.

“No,” he whispered, voice breaking a little on the words, and she sighed. “I- I killed his mom. I can never make that right,”

“You had no choice, Jethro. She was dangerous, and she was going to kill Ziva. You know that,” 

“Doesn’t make it right,” he muttered, and Jack felt her own throat constrict a little at the devastation in his voice.

“No, but it does make it the only thing you could have done. And the right move.”

Gibbs didn’t reply, and Jack shifted slightly, holding him close, and thinking through the events of the evening a little more. It made sense that Gibbs had kept his emotions at bay until now, but what didn’t make sense was the whole timing, and the disappearing act in the conference room, unless-

“Hey Gibbs? Is there another reason that you’re upset?” Jack asked lightly, fairly sure of herself, but always up for another shot at making the man talk. Unlikely though it was. 

He didn’t respond. 

Jack sighed, and pulled away a little, shifting her grip to force Gibbs to look at her for the first time. She smiled sympathetically at his red eyes, cupping one of his cheeks in her hands and gently wiping away a tear that stubbornly continued down his face.

“I think you’re also upset that you’re losing Phin again, just when you got him back. Am I right?” she asked, searching his eyes, and knowing her answer when he gave up and squeezed his eyelids closed again.

“It’s okay to be upset about that too, you know,” she tried, and rolled her eyes at the weak scoff she received. “It is! And I don’t think you’re the only one feeling that way. Phineas is going to want to see you again, you know,” Jack said firmly, sure of her own words.

Gibbs shifted. 

“And what if he doesn’t?” he asked quietly, and Jack restrained the delight she felt at hearing actual emotion words.

“I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that, but- but!” she repeated, over the protest that Gibbs tried to make. “You can always keep trying. Wasn’t it you who told me that it was going to work out okay between Faith and me?” she asked rhetorically, and felt justified as she saw the start of a smile on Gibbs’ face in the dim light.

“See! So it’s my turn to say that it’s all going to be okay, and you can’t tell me otherwise,” she insisted, and punched Gibbs lightly in the arm as he sat up a little, smile reluctantly curling further across his face.

“Is that meant to be your pep talk? Violence and threats?” he asked, voice a little hoarse but humour clearly pushing through it.

“Hey! It was a great pep talk!” Jack pretended to be affronted, and sat up a little more, relishing in the warmth where their legs sat pressed against one another.

“Sure Jack, sure,” Gibbs replied teasingly, not making a motion to move either.

They sat in a comfortable silence for a minute, then suddenly Gibbs jerked and moved his arm, squinting at the watch face.

Jack watched for a moment, then took pity on him and leant over, staring at the watch face in the dim light and reporting “It’s five to eight,” 

“Damn,” Gibbs replied quickly, and stood up. “Ziva’s leaving, hope I haven’t missed her.”

“I’m sure you’ll catch her,” Jack replied, standing up as well and walking over to the door, opening it for Gibbs to walk out first, and following him out.

“Hey,” she said as he made to vanish off, and Gibbs paused.

“What?” he asked, glancing over at her, and she raised her eyebrows at him.

“One second-” she frowned in concentration, licking her thumb and scrubbing it lightly across his cheeks, getting rid of the tell-tale tear streaks that ran along his cheeks. “Figured you might not remember to clean up,” she shrugged.

Gibbs regarded her with an unfathomable expression, which quickly cracked into a small smile as he stepped back towards her and swept her into a hug.

“Oh, okay,” Jack said in surprise, hugging him back properly.

“Thanks,” he whispered into her ear, and Jack relaxed into the hug, smiling faintly as they stood there for a moment, then Gibbs pulled back.

“I won’t mention it,” she promised, and both of them knew that it was true.

Gibbs glanced down at his watch again, and Jack chuckled. “Go!” she urged, pushing him down the corridor, and he followed without question, hurriedly walking away to catch ZIva, without even a glance back at the corner.

Jack stood there for a moment anyway, her hands on her hips, and sighed. She wished some days that she could have fallen in love with an easier man, and yet at the same time, she knew she’d somehow managed to find the best one around. The days weren’t easy, but they were good, and maybe, just maybe…

She shook her head, and set off down the corridor with a determined stride. Tomorrow was always coming, but for once she wasn’t looking to the past, and wishing tomorrow wouldn’t come.

No, today? Today she couldn’t wait.


End file.
